Behind the glitz and glam of Bali’s luxury resorts and posh restaurants, lies an island marred by poverty. There are families who are forced to economize in times of financial hardship by taking their children out of school and direct them to low paying work. But to help them escape the poverty, the Bali Children’s Project are sending the little ones back to school.
The history of Bali Children’s Project started with a kind couple noticing children were not in school. From small beginnings, this started a series of events that would turn into Bali Children’s Project.
The Bali Children’s Project is a non-profit charity registered in the USA and Indonesia. The organization originated in the early 1990’s, when Joyce Scott and John Cooke recognized children were unable to access school. They saw a cycle of rural poverty driven by lack of education, especially for young girls. John and Joyce began by informally helping a few children with tuition costs, approaching friends and relatives for donations, and soon developed a network of schools which they supplied with educational material.
The cycle of poverty means many children are unable to achieve their dreams. Bali Children’s Project adopted ‘escaping poverty through education’ as their slogan. It is the idea that if you educate a child, they will have the chance to earn their way out of poverty – changing their own lives and their families forever.
In 2004 Linda Moselle Venter joined Bali Children’s Project. Over the years, Linda became more and more involved, significantly increasing programming. She now functions as the Executive Director of Bali Children’s Project. Linda worked to develop a new team and increase the impact of Bali Children’s Project’s work, including registering as a 501c3 non profit organizations in the USA.
Linda and the Bali team turned the ad-hoc sponsorships into a formalized program that was monitored both financially and logistically. They created the formal sponsorship program, monitoring systems and more. The sponsorship program is Bali Children’s Project largest program and continues to grow today. The team grew to deliver many of the programs that exist today – including the expansion of the sponsorships, pre-school support, English learning, sex education, HIV & AIDS workshops and more.
Bali Children’s Project impacts thousands of children and families across Bali. It makes a life changing difference to those who may never have had the opportunity of education. In the future, the project plans to continue growing existing programs as well as adding new programs that help children escape poverty through education. It is only thanks to the support of individuals and donors that Bali Children’s Project can continue its programs.
The project’s sponsorship program supports children through school in Bali. Sponsored children are from the poorest families, who are in most need. Without sponsorship for school, these children would drop out of school. They, and their families would continue in the cycle of poverty. Sponsorships enable them to change that.
Bali Children’s Project
A : Jl. Penestanan, Sayan, Ubud, Kabupaten Gianyar, Bali 80571
T : +62 361 976 189
W : http://balichildrensproject.org/
